A castle will fall
by devildog3479
Summary: A/U set shortly after Season 7x06 Time of our lives when Beckett and Castle are married. A murder investigation will lead them to a event that will rock the Castle family and the 12th Precinct to its core.
1. Prolouge

**Prologue**

 **42** **nd** **and Broadway**

 **New York, New York**

The Toyota Camry pullout out of the garage and onto Broadway as the early morning traffic remained relatively light for the beginning of the workweek. The driver shipped at his coffee as he made the turn to heads down Broadway towards the East village. The young man carefully negotiated the general increasing traffic of the morning commute towards his home in the East Village. He was tired, after pulling a double shift at Rockefeller center where he was a security guard. He didn't mind the extra money from pulling the double shift. His wife was due any day with their first child, and when another guard asked him to cover his shift, he jumped at the chance.

He turned on to East 23rd street to go to 2nd Avenue to avoid the growing traffic and foot congestion near New York University. The driver grabbed a quick glance at the dashboard clock, hoping to make it home in time before his wife woke up. She has had a habit lately of trying to do a lot before the baby arrives, and exterts herself to much. The driver sighed, realizing that his wife took after him. He never finished the thought when he saw a car swerve out of the lane opposite of him to avoid a bike messenger. He slammed on his brakes, but the car that swerved into his lane turned quickly to avoid the collision, but the collision couldn't be avoid. The cars hit each other on the bumpers. The collision wasn't overly violent, but it was enough for the driver to pull his car off the road, and turn off the engine. He pulled out the insurance information from the glove box and turned to open the door. He didn't see the 9mm silenced pistol come against his temple.

The shooter fired twice and dropped the pistol on the floor of the Camry and walked away. The driver of the other car picked up his head from beneath the dashboard and pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" The operator answered the call.

"Yes ma'am I just witness a shooting after a traffic accident." The other driver replied to the operator. He noticed other drivers pulling up and seeing the carnage. "I'm on East 23rd Street, near 3rd Avenue."

"Is the shooter still there?"

"No ma'am."

"Just stay on the line sir, police are on the way."

The squad cars arrived a couple minutes later and set a peritmer as one of the police officers walked up to the car and felt for a pulse, and shook her head at her partner. "Dispatch, this is 10-David-Victor, send a coroner, and csu along with detectives."

Police dispatch looked at the board at the nearest precinct and route the message to the 12th. The officer on the scene looked at the name on the registration and made the connection and reached for her radio. "Dispatch, we are also going to need IAB here as well."

"Roger." The dispatcher replied with a confused look on her face and placed the call to IAB.

Across the island of Manhattan, a stunning beautiful women turned in bed. A smell of coffee, and food drifted into the bedroom. She slowly sat up and inhaled deeply. She then smiled and slowly got out of bed and made her way towards the kitchen. Kate Beckett stopped, stared and smiled at her husband Richard Castle as he was making breakfast for them. For the both of them, reaching this point had been a journey but now since they were married, they were enjoying the life they were making for themselves. At least for them, the past couple weeks had been a slow one for them, and the team. It allowed Beckett, Ryan and Espozito to get caught up on paperwork and assisted other detectives with cases, or ran down any leads on any cases they made have had. The week had an added benefit to Rick and Kate, it allowed them to discuss on whether Kate should take a Captain's position or run for New York State Senate. With no murders to solve, the team cleared their desk, and somehow the schedule miraculously allowed all three of them off at the same time.

Kate started towards the counter again. "Morning."

Rick looked over. "Hey morning. I was going to bring you in an omelttee, Western style." He slide her a plate and set down a mug in front of her. "Coffee?"

"Please." Beckett answered with a smile on her face. The way Rick cooked things, did things for them, as well as made her feel, brought a sense of completion to her. "I didn't feel you get up."

"Well, I didn't want to wake you, plus I had things on my mind." Rick stated pouring her a cup of coffee. The slow week allowed Castle a chance to pour over old case files and talk to other detectives to get a general sense of what to put in his next Nikki Heat Book. "I got a couple chapters back that need some corrections.

"Thought those were done?" Kate asked taking a sip of her coffee. A plate appeared in front of her, and she began to attack it. "You said Gina liked all the changes?"

"Apparently, not." He replied with a devious smile that Kate like. He pour a couple glasses of orange juice and put one in front of her.

"Morning dears." Martha Rodgers said into the kitchen, and reaching for the cups on the counter, and pour herself a cup of coffee. "The smell of breakfast appealed to me."

"Same here." Kate replied with a smile over her breakfast.

"Morning." Alexis Castle stated as she came down for breakfast. She walked over to the counter and pour herself a cup of coffee. She then looked at the breakfast. She was in the middle of her exams and need all the energy she could, so she put on her best southern accent. "I'll take one of those sir, if you don't mind."

"Of course ma'am." Rick replied in the same accent with a laugh taking a plate from the counter.

"What do you two have plan today?" Martha asked while sipping at her coffee.

"Apparently Gina went on to change mind her again about those chapters." Rick answered his mother's question, getting a collective groan from Alexis and Martha. The latest Nikki Heat novel was due to the printers in less than a week, and usually this was the time when Castle starting making preparations for the next book, and the tour. "Plus I have to getting brainstorming ideas for the next book."

"Best-selling novels or not, she is losing it." Alexis started saying as she too sipped at her coffee, feeling the caffeine rush into her system.

"Oh Alexis, she is just making sure everything stays perfect for the money machine here." Martha said getting a collective laugh.

"We are also having lunch with Madison and Reggie." Kate said taking a last bite of her omellttee. Castle and her ran back in to Kate's friend Madison and her boyfriend the other day while out to dinner after closing out a case. They made plans to have lunch since Madison had to return to her restaurant to get the closing numbers. "Other than that nothing but re…"

Kate's cellphone started ringing so she moved away from the counter to answer it. Rick looked over at his daughter. "What about you?"

"Tutoring and exams all day long." She replied.

Kate picked up her phone and used the slide bar on her phone to answer it. "Beckett."

"Beckett, I need you, Mr. Castle, Alexis and Ms. Rodgers down here at a scene please." Captain Gates said as she looked over at the scene being processed. "Detectives Ryan and Espozito are on their way as well."

"Yes sir." Kate replied moving back to the counter motioning for Rick's attention which she got. He came over and put his ear close to the phone.

"They might need their lawyers as well." Captain Gates said and she hung up the phone looking over at the Detective from Internal Affairs who was standing next to her. "This is crap and you know it."

"Have to make sure Captain Gates." The Internal Affairs Detective answered moving back to the scene. "Can't have anyone going rouge you know."

Back at the loft, Kate and Rick looked at each other with confusion in each other's faces. Martha picked up on that as well. "What is it?"

"We are all needed at a scene." Beckett answered moving away from the living room and towards the bedroom. "You guys too. Rick you might want to call Marty."

"Dad?" Alexis asked.

"Just get dressed, while I call Marty." Rick answered moving like Beckett towards the bedroom. Marty was the family lawyer and the person who kept Rick out of jail more times than he cared to count. Martha and Alexis decided not to ask any more questions and moved to get dressed as well.

Within thirty minutes, the four of them arrived at the address of the scene that Beckett received from a text message from Ryan. As they walked up, they noticed that Ryan and Espazito, as well as Lanie were outside the scene waiting for them.

"What are you doing out here?" Kate asked with confusion on her face and her hands open with palms up.

"We were ordered to wait here." Ryan answered with a distain in his voice.

"By who?" Rick asked looking over the scene.

"By me Mr. Castle." Captain Gates said walking up to the barricades where the seven of them were waiting. She looked at each one of them before speaking again. "This was not my decision, and I would rather have, with the exception of Ms. Rodgers, and Mr. Castle's daughter, you five working the case."

"So Captain if you didn't call us down here for the crime scene, then why did you call us here?" Kate asked.

Captain Gates motioned her head to the man that was now walking up towards the barricade. Everyone knew by the suit, tie, and shoes that man walking up was Internal Affairs. Only Beckett knew the man's name.

"Henderson." She said like the name was a curse word. The others looked quickly at her before turning their attention back to the man coming towards them.

"Detective Beckett." Detective Henderson said as he arrived at the barricades. He held out his hand which no one shook. He shook his head. "Figured we were past that Beckett."

"Not when you railroaded a friend of mine to make a name for yourself." Kate replied with a distain in her voice. She felt Castle's comforting hand on her shoulder. She felt the stares of everyone else so she moved on. "Why did you call us here?"

"You are to all be question as your whereabouts when this man was shot?" Detective Henderson stated motioning for the officers standing by to come near the group.

"Why are you suspecting us?" Martha asked shockingly.

"The man shot dead this morning was the brother of the women who was the girlfriend of the man who kidnapped Mr. Castle's daughter last year." Henderson responded with a determination in his voice.

All eyes turned to Alexis whose jaw fell to the floor at the news.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Old faces, new problems**

 **East 23** **rd** **Street, near 2** **nd** **Avenue**

 **New York, New York**

"You have got to be joking!" Alexis finally said after shaking off the shock. The group moved towards her to form a protective ring around her. "The last I saw of anybody from that family, was at the trial, but even then the brother never showed up."

"True, but we still have to rule you out." Detective Henderson replied as he motioned the officers to hold up for a second. He then looked directly at Kate and Rick. "Because somehow last year you were miraculously rescued by French police after you were in Paris less than 3 days."

Everybody in the group knew the most of the real truth behind the rescue, but that didn't matter now. One of their family was being suspected, and a protective ring went up around that. Martha placed her hand on Alexis's shoulder as Kate took Rick's hand.

"Now, you will be riding in separate squad cars to your precinct." Detective Henderson said motioning again for the officers to come back over to the group. "Once there you will be questioned, as well as phone, emails, and bank records checked."

"We know the drill." Ryan said with everybody nodding their agreement. The group moved off to the seven awaiting squad cars. As soon as the last door closed, the cars took off towards the precinct.

"Thank you for your cooperation Captain." Detective Henderson said to Gates as he moved towards his car.

"Henderson." Captain Gates called to Detective Henderson who turned around. Gates walked over to him. "Mr. Castle may be eccentric, but he did what he did because he is a parent, and the rest of my team followed the law and procedure to the letter."

"What about Detective Beckett?" Detective Henderson asked placing his hands on his hips. He leaned in close. "She and Mr. Castle carried on a relationship and kept it secret from you until that bomb incident, and today they are engaged and still working together at the precinct despite the policy of that sort of relationship."

"That has been sanctioned by the commissioner himself, as long as they are professional." Gates answered crossing her arms. She shifted her weight and thought of the correct wording. "Has there been a little PDA at the precinct, yes, but generally at the end of shift, or when one of them is leaving, nothing wrong with that."

"Well let's find out what they know about our DB here then." Detective Henderson said again moving towards his car. Gates couldn't do anything further except follow suit as the CSU team and detectives on hand worked the scene.

The twenty minute car ride to the precinct seemed to drag on forever for the group, but finally they arrived, to which point they were escorted upstairs by the drivers. They felt the stares of everyone who was in the bullpen watching. Secrets are not kept long in a station, but they knew the story, and back the group a hundred percent. Yet somehow the group knew they were on their own until they were clear.

"Marty." Rick called to his lawyer who was waiting for them near the interrogation room. Marty walked over and shook the hands of Rick, giving a kiss to Martha, Alexis and Kate. "Sorry for getting you out of bed so early."

"Please, I have that condo on the upper west side because of you." Marty laughed then got serious a second later. "Rick what is going on here?"

"A family member of the lady who was the girlfriend of man of Alexis's kidnapping was killed this morning." Rick stated after getting a nod from the police officer escorting them. "Internal Affairs needs to question us, as well as look at all our records."

Everybody in the group nodded their agreement. Marty looked around. "I can get two more associates down here for Alexis and Martha, but for them, it's going to take some pull."

"It's all right Marty, the union provides lawyers." Kate said with a nod towards Ryan and Espozito who nodded their agreement as well. "I have been told they are on their way." Marty nodded and pulled out his phone to make the call to his office.

Soon as Kate had finished the statement, the elevator doors opened and in walked Detective Henderson and Captain Gates. Behind them was a couple more detectives from IAB, and the departmental lawyers. They walked over to the group where Detective Henderson saw Marty who had just finished up his phone call.

"Mr…." Detective Henderson started to say.

"Martin Fairchild of Fairchild, Anderson and Sanchez." Marty answered handing over his card to Detective Henderson who looked at the card. "I represent Mr. Castle here. I have a couple of our associates coming down to represent Ms. Rodgers, and Alexis here."

"Ahh, one of the biggest firms in the city. Very well we can wait for Ms. Rodgers and Ms. Castle's lawyers." Detective Henderson replied with a disgust in his voice. He turned to the rest of the group and zero in on one of them. "Detective Ryan, we'll start with you."

"Detective Henderson we need tim….." The union lawyers started to say but held off when Captain Gates held up her hand. The other IAB detectives went about to checking records, emails.

"The sooner the better." Ryan stated. He started towards Interrogation Room with his union lawyer and Detective Henderson in tow. As soon as they were room, Ryan and his lawyer sat down. "I'm going to make this short for you Henderson. I was at home with my wife taking care of our daughter while my wife got some sleep."

"Really, you were home all night?" Henderson replied with a look of distrust on his face. He then stared right at Ryan. "You didn't go out to get milk, or paper or dinner."

"We planned our meals in advance, and eat them when we get home." Ryan replied with disgust in his voice. "We were asleep by 9 at night. I woke up at one to feed our daughter."

"Detective, I'm pretty sure Detective Ryan's wife will confirm all this." The union lawyer announced trying to take the pressure off. He was trying to buy time for the detectives to call Ryan's wife.

"I'm sure she…." Henderson started to say, but the door opened and in walked another IAB detective walked in and whispered into Henderson ear. He nodded. "Detective Ryan, you are free to go. Your wife confirmed the story."

Ryan and his lawyer got up and walked out of the interrogation room. Henderson got up shortly after and looked out into the room. He saw Espazito and his lawyer sitting close to him. "Detective Espazito your next."

Espazito and his lawyer walked into the interrogation and quickly sat down at the interrogation table. Detective Henderson made his way to his seat and sat down across from Espazito. Espo looked Henderson over. "You are so scary."

"Really Detective Espazito trying to intimidate me?" Detective Henderson said looking down at his notes before looking over Espazito. "We pretty much knew Detective Ryan would be the one with a pretty solid alibi."

"Ryan is a good guy who loves his family, and would never endanger that." Espazito replied sitting up straight in his chair. He again looked over Henderson looking for an opening but didn't find one. "Let's just get this over with."

"Very well Detective." Detective Henderson said laying his hands on top of a pad and pen on the interrogation table. He looked at Espazito. "Tell me your story."

"What story? A friend of mine is back from Afghanistan, so we celebrated." Espazito replied with contempt in his voice. He saw the stare of his union rep from the corner of his eye. "Name is Paul Jefferson, and Lanie, I, Paul and some other friends of ours went to Charisma."

"That new club on 76th Street?" Detective Henderson asked getting a nod from Espazito. Henderson wrote down the names and slide the pad over to get phone numbers which Espazito wrote down. "So why were you with Dr. Parish?"

"She knows Paul from his wedding. She was my date." Espazito replied to the question. He shifted in his seat but still maintained eye contact. He wasn't going to back down to this bastard. "We have dated on and off for the past four years, but other than that nothing serious."

"We'll see about that." Henderson said looking down at his notes. After looking back up he stared over Espazito for a moment. "You are pretty close to Castle and his family. Maybe you followed the victim after returning home from your partying and took care of it for revenge."

"That's hearsay detective." The lawyer replied.

"Check the registrar at the Hotel Roosevelt on 23rd. I got a room after partying." Espazito replied taking the note pad again giving the room number. "I was there till this morning. I am pretty sure Dr. Parrish will vouch for me."

"Very well detective, I will." Detective Henderson stated as he wrote that down. Once he was finishing writing that down. He looked back up at Espazito. "You're dismissed Detective."

The other IA detective called in Lanie as Javier walked out the interrogation room. "If you are going to ask me where I was, I will tell you right now to save you the trouble. I was with Detective Espazito at the Hotel Roosevelt till we were called this morning."

"What about Mr. Castle and his family Doctor?" Detective Henderson asked.

"I love them to death, and I wanted to help them when Alexis was kidnapped." Lanie replied to the question and thought about the answer carefully and looked at the attorney assigned to her. "Yet I won't do anything to get revenge on the family that kidnapped Alexis. So check my financial and you'll see I am living within my means."

The two detectives looked at each other and nodded. "You're excused Dr. Parrish. Please send in Ms. Rodgers and her attorney."

Martha walked in with one of the associates that Marty talked about in tow. She sat down at the table.

"Ms. Rodgers thank you for coming in." Detective Henderson replied.

"Not like I have much of a choice detective. You have practically accused us of orchestrating a hit on a young man, whom I believe is married and expecting a baby."

The detectives from IA looked at each other in disbelief so Martha seized on the opportunity. "You should have your associates not talking so loud near us. One thing I learned from my daughter in law." She nodded to her lawyer next to her who handed over the information.

"What is this?" Detective Henderson asked as the other detective walked out to talk to the investigative team.

"My alibi and financial records. I was at a wrap party for my play until about 11, then came home. Oh if you think I would try and get revenge on the family, I won't go after the brother." Martha replied to the question, but felt the stare from the attorney. "Yes it was my granddaughter, but I had faith we could get her back."

"So Ms. Rodgers, you are looking for an apartment, so maybe you set a little of the money aside to take this man out?"

"Detective why don't you call the Post entertainment section, and check with the door man of the building where Ms. Rodgers family lives." The associate told the detective. "I am pretty sure they will confirm Ms. Rodgers story."

The detectives nodded and called in Alexis into the room. "Ms. Castle, where were you last night and early this morning?"

"My client has agreed to let me get you that information." The attorney representing Alexis stated to the detectives. He handed over the location information on Alexis phone and financial records.

"So according to this you were at school till midnight, arrived home about 12:30 and stayed there till you arrived at the crime scene this morning?"

"Yes that is right. Call my friend Katie, she's the one that drove me home."

The detectives dismissed Alexis as they passed the information to the team outside going through the information that was being check. Kate and her police union attorney walked into the interrogation room.

"Detective Beckett. So two years ago when you were dating Mr. Castle, his daughter was kidnapped and you lead the effort to find her?" Detective Henderson asked Kate.

"Of course, it occurred within the confines of our precinct." Kate replied with a straight face.

"You failed to notify your superior that you were in a relationship with Mr…"

"Detective, that has already been establish that it was well known, and kept under wraps, and even had the commissioner..." The attorney started to object to the question.

"Let me rephrase the question, how come you did not excuse yourself from the case? Detective Henderson asked.

"Despite my relationship with my husband and step-daughter at the time, I was able to remain objective throughout the case, and get the conviction of the girlfriend.

"And yet your husband who was your boyfriend at the time goes to Paris for four days and recovers his daughter."

"With the help of French authorities' detective." The lawyer said writing this down.

"He did anything a normal parent would do to get his daughter back safely." Kate stated leaning back in the chair. She stared up Henderson. "As far as my whereabouts, we were at home all night, and my financial information is with your detectives."

"One more question detective?" Detective Henderson said leaning forward in the chair. "Did you marry Castle for his money?"

Kate was lucky she didn't jump over the table and strike Henderson. She stood up and walked out of interrogation. Rick followed behind Kate, but stopped for a moment to give her a hug and quick kiss before heading into interrogation with Marty.

"Mr. Castle, how are you doing today?" Detective Henderson ask sitting down to face Rick. "I'm going to save us all some time, because I figured you already handed over your alibi, records, and cell phones to my associates outside."

"Also the security camera footage from the building as well." Rick replied to the statement. He saw the looks on the faces. "It is nice that the company CEO is a friend of mine and I learned a few things from my wife and my time here."

"So Mr. Castle, despite the calls for you to remove yourself from your daughter's case, you went rouge to find her?" Detective Henderson asked leaning forward in his chair.

"I helped the French authorities locate my daughter yes, but within accordance to US and French laws." Rick replied half telling the truth. Since his time here, he was able to pick up on a few things. "You want to confirm that, talk to Martin Sanger at the US embassy in Paris."

"There was rumors that you torture for information on you daughters whereabouts while a suspect was in custody." Detective Henderson said sizing up Rick looking for an opening. "While your wife, who was your girlfriend at the time, was with you."

"She actually was there with me when I asked the gentlemen for information but everything was on the up and up. Rick said not giving Henderson an inch. He felt Marty's hand on his arm. "So where is this leading to detective?"

"We think you wanted to send a message to the girl in prison?" Detective Henderson asked Rick.

"Yeah, you guys definitely need to rethink your strategy, because the only message I sent that girl, was this." Rick said nodding to Marty who handed over a packet. "That is a treatment program for her addiction I got her into. Placed a call to a friend of mine who took it on for me."

Henderson looked over the packet, who then handed it over to his partner. He looked at Rick. "Very well Mr. Castle we have nothing further."

Rick got up and walked out of the interrogation room as another detective walked in and whispered something into Henderson's ear. Rick stood near the group.

"What did he ask you?" Kate asked snaking her arm through Ricks.

"The apartment and trip to France." Rick said in a low whisper. The group shook their heads, knowing the plan was to try and divide them.

Henderson came out a moment later from the interrogation room. "We still have some things to check out, but for now you are free to go."

As the group started to leave with their escorts, the elevator dinged and a familiar faced walked off it towards and the group was stunned. It was Doctor Josh Davidson who was walking towards the interrogation room. Kate grabbed the nearest uniform to them.

"Johnson, why is he here?" Kate asked the officer.

"Detective, he was the other driver of the vehicle at the scene."

The group was ushered aboard the elevator by the escorts and they saw Josh shake hands and walked into interrogation.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Off the clock and off the Books**

Once the group had left the precinct, they all agreed to meet back at the loft to talk over what had transpired in the past couple hours, and the return of someone they had not expected. The cab ride back to the loft for Kate, Rick, Alexis and Martha was a quiet one. Alexis sat in the back with her father, and stepmother holding both of their hands while she quietly sobbed. Once they arrived back at the loft, Alexis went upstairs to her room to contact her professors about make ups, while the rest of the family remained downstairs.

Martha poured each of them a cup of coffee and looked at Kate. "How do you know this detective Kate?"

"Long story short, we all went to the academy together." Kate answered bringing the coffee up and taking a sip. She sat the mug down and looked at Martha "He was working a case with my friend Laurie. He made the arrest of the suspect while Laurie was chasing a false lead given to her by him. That made his career, but burned a lot of bridges at the precinct he was working at."

"Oh I'm sorry dear." Martha replied taking a sip.

"He got moved to the Bronx then IA." Rick answered taking his own sip of coffee, and squeezing Kate's hand. He saw his mother's look. "Kate told me a long time ago."

Before Martha could answer, a knock came from the loft door, and Martha went over to open it. Lanie, Ryan, and Espazito walked into the loft. Ryan was carrying food in one hand and drinks in another.

"Ryan, you didn't have to do that, we have plenty here." Rick said as Ryan set the food down on the counter, along with the drinks. The food came from Castle favorite burger place. "I'll forgive you though. Where's mine?"

"Bottom of the bag." Ryan replied setting the drinks on the counter. He sat down in the counter stool. "So did anyone pick up why they are looking at us besides the connection to Alexis?"

"Not really, all that I heard was them trying to confirm alibis and check financials." Espozito said taking his burger and walking back towards Lanie and the couch. "Henderson is an ass, but he is a smart one. Not revealing too much."

"I feel bad for Alexis. Poor girl has to go through this all over again." Lanie said taking a bit out of Espozito's burger to which she gave a smile. She quickly retrieved hers from the bag. "Where is she?"

"Upstairs. She had to reschedule to take her exams." Martha replied. She passed on the burger that was offered her. "Poor dear."

"Henderson must think he has something on us, but without access to any of the case….." Kate started to say when a familiar voice came

"I don't know about Detective Henderson, but I have something." Alexis answered coming down the stairs from her room. "I was able to record some things on my phone."

"Alexis honey you have to don't have to say anything." Rick said coming over to place his arms around his daughter.

"It's all right dad, I'm ok." Alexis replied getting out of her father's arms and walking over to the group and pulling out her phone. "One of the detectives mentioned something about surveillance footage."

"Did they say where Alexis?" Kate asked coming over. She put her arms around her stepdaughter's shoulders.

"I don't know, but I recorded what they were talking about on my phone." Alexis answered. She took out her phone and played the recording.

"This footage was from two days ago from a restaurant on the Upper East side." One of the voices on the recording says.

"Place looks like it's too expensive for detectives, wonder who paid?" Another voice came onto the recording.

"More than likely it was Detective Beckett's husband." The first voice came back onto the recording. They heard some shuffling. "There is our victim."

"When was this recorded?" The second detective came on again.

Castle hit paused on the phone. He looked over at the ensemble. "That is Rizzo's. We were there….."

Kate picked up where her husband left off. "Two days ago where we went to celebrate Martha's review from her last play."

Ryan and Espozito looked at each other for a moment and recalled it. Ryan spoke up first. "That is why they are looking at us. To them it looks like we…."

"Were conducting a pre-hit meeting and conducting surveillance." Espozito finished the statement. He went over to where the stools where and took a seat in one of them. "So how are we going to get out from under this microscope?"

"I would suggest we do nothing." Martha answered the question. She looked around the room at the group. "Let the information we provided speak for itself."

"I agree with Martha." Ryan spoke looking around the group. He shifted on his feet before choosing his next words. "If we are caught looking at this while IA's thumb we will probably face charges."

The group looked around at each other and thought about that for a moment. Ryan at the moment had the most to lose, with a young wife, and child at home. Though everyone else would lose a lot, Ryan losing his family would devastate him.

"I'll contact Pearlmutter and see if he can email me some pictures from the autopsy and all the usual paperwork that we run." Lanie said breaking the silence of the group. She moved away pulling out her phone to call.

"I'll check into the restaurant again and see if anyone remembers us and the vic there." Espozito stated. He pulled out his phone to look up the address. "Hopefully somebody will remember seeing something else."

While Espozito and Lanie were on the phones, a knock came from loft door. Martha went to go open it, and was surprised by the vistor on the other side. "Oh Captain Gates."

"Hello Ms. Rodgers, Sorry to disturb you at home." Captain Gates said apologetically which she really meant.

"Oh it's no problem at all. Please come in." Martha replied to the statement. She stood aside to let in the Captain, and once that happen she closed the door.

"Thank you. I'm glad you are all here, because I figured this is where you be." Captain told the group as she walked into the loft. She wanted to get over with in one shot. "I have orders from the commissioner. Until evidence points otherwise, you all are on paid administrative leave, with exception of Alexis and Ms. Rodgers."

"We had a feeling this was coming sir." Kate replied from the group who all nodded.

"Thank you Detective Beckett." Captain Gates stated with a serious face. Then she had a smile spread across her face. "With the official business out of the away, unofficially the commissioner doesn't like his best homicide team on the side lines, so here you go. This is from me."

She handed a flash drive over to Kate. "Sir what is this?"

"Everything on the IA investigation." Captain Gates replied with a sly smile. She saw the look on their faces. "They were pulled into a meeting in the conference room and one of them left his computer unlocked. Don't get caught."

They nodded their understanding and Captain Gates left them again in the loft to contemplate what they had been handed. They knew if they were caught, it will be a felony conviction and significant jail time. Yet the silence of the moment was broke when Castle took the flash drive out of Kate's hand and moved towards the office. He sat down and plugged it in as the rest filed into the room.

"Babe, what are you doing?" Kate asked already knowing the answer.

"Doing what the captain suggested. Investigating and not getting caught." Rick replied scrolling through the thumb drive files. He felt Kate's hands on his shoulders, and out the corner of his eye, Espazito coming around. "Looks like it's all here. Reports, records, surveillance, everything."

"Its gives us a idea what they have." Kate replied as Castle continued to scroll through the files again. She tapped on Rick's shoulders. "Click on that one."

Rick clicked on a file marked Beckett and Castle. It opened to a word document that had the internal affairs header at the top. "Son of a bitch."

"Henderson wrote a confidential report to the commissioner three weeks ago, request that our partnership be terminated." Kate summarized the report. She had Castle scroll down the report further. "He reported that neither one of us can remain objective."

"Wow, what ass." Alexis stated getting agreements from the rest of the room.

"Guys, I don't mean to sound like a broken record." Ryan sounded off. Everyone turned to look at him with curious eyes. "I'm with you, but I am saying because if we do this…"

"It has to be off the books." Kate finished the statement for Ryan. She looked around the room and thought about the words. "We don't have the resources of the precinct or labs at our disposal. So until we are cleared, this office because the precinct."

Everyone nodded and went about to find some things that could help with their version of the case. Alexis and Martha retreated to the comfort of their rooms or the living rooms, while notebooks, pens, and other materials were found and distributed. Within a few minutes the team had divided up the load and began to divide into the case.

"Castle, your computer may be top of the line, but video controls suck." Ryan said a couple hours later. Castle got up from a small table that he and Kate had set up for themselves. "It's the controls on the computer, they keep moving the video when I'm trying to focus in on something."

"Hold on." Castle told him. He opened up a desk drawer and scrumaged around inside it for a few seconds. He came out with a flash drive and a remote to which he handed over to Ryan. "Here you go."

"Any reason you couldn't give it to me earlier." Ryan said sarcastically getting a playful slap from Castle.

"Geez Ryan complain much." Kate said laughing coming in with more coffee. She passed them out to the group before sitting back down in the chair. "Well they just have an initial investigation going, but I'm not finding anything linking us to the homicide."

"Pearlmutter finished the autopsy on our victim. His name is Bradley DeGarmo." Lanie said sipping over her coffee. She set the cup down and looked over her notes. "Nothing out of the ordinary on him. COD nine mil to the left temple. No drugs or alcohol in his system."

"Same thing can be said for Rizzo's." Espozito said coming back into the office from his journey to the restaurant they had visited a few nights ago. He stopped in the center of the room and opened up the notebook he had. "The staff definitely remembers us and the manager remembers our vic being there with a some other folks. Mainly describe these gentlemen as business types, and looked like our vic was standing near one."

"Well he is a security guard, maybe he got a extra shift pulling private security." Kate replied getting up and walking over towards the desk. She looked around. "I wish we had the murder board."

"I would have set it on the computer, but we need that for surveillance footage." Castle smirked with a glance at Ryan.

"And it paid off." Ryan replied as he pressed a button on the remote. He pushed another button on the computer and brought the shot onto the big screen. "There's our vic right there, back against the wall near this group of four right here."

"Yeah I recognize a few of these folks." Kate replied coming up closer to the screen. Ryan zoomed in for her. "That is Senator Kendrick, Haskin, along with I think that is council woman Miller. Don't know who the other gentlemen is."

"That's Dr. Jeremey Nigel." Lanie said coming over towards the screen. She got a closer look at the man who was closest to the victim. "He quit practicing and went into the natural medicine game."

"I heard of him. Runs the biggest all natural medicine company on the Eastern seaboard." Castle said. He got up and move to the living room and scrummaged around for a minute. "He's being sued for a unlawful death for one of his medicines."

"That explains the security." Espozito answered getting a nodded.

"Plus the political power. All three of those political bigwigs voted for the tax break that Dr. Nigel's factory received." Lanie said.

"Fast forward Ryan." Kate said. Ryan fast forward the footage a little bit longer. "Stop. Look we left before they did."

"Yeah. There is no way we were planning a hit and running recon." Espozito stated coming over to the screen and tapping the screen. "We left before they did and all ended back home."

"There's outside footage too." Ryan interjected.

"Play it forward." Castled said to Ryan.

"Why, this proves we weren't doing anything." Kate said standing next to her husband.

"There's something about this gentlemen right here. He came in with the political party and hasn't ordered anything but drinks." Castle answered his wife's statement. Ryan did move the tape forward a bit. The party that the vic was providing security for left, and two minutes later the gentlemen that Castle was interested in left as well. "Stop Ryan and back up a few seconds."

"What did you see babe?" Kate asked.

"Missing finger, and tattoos on the hands." Castle said as he pointed to the screen. Ryan zoomed in. "There is your surveillance. Russian mob." The group looked as the man who the screen was currently fixed on was missing a index finger, and had Cyrillic letter on his hands. Signs of the Russian Mafia.

==========================================================================================================Thank you for reviews and your insights. I hope to continue to keep you entertain as the story progresses.


	4. Chapter 3

Sorry for the delay fans. A Marine Corps buddy of mine was done and my family and his spent some time together the past few days.

 **Chapter 3: Calling in a favor**

The group waited in the living room for the phone to ring. As soon as Castle spotted the Russian in the video, Ryan had sent a screen shot to Tory Ellis to run for identification purposes. Martha had come down from her room and made a fresh pot of coffee for them. In one corner Ryan was on the phone with Jenny, apparently trying to calm her down, while Esposito and Lanie were sitting at counter with Kate and Rick. Ryan came over a moment later.

"How's Jenny taking it Ryan?" Rick asked sliding over a cup of coffee to Ryan who nodded his thanks.

"Scared, angry, frustrated." Ryan replied taking a sip of the coffee. He looked around at his friends. "More at IA than me."

"Don't blame her dog. I got 20 texts from people at the precinct saying this bull." Esposito stated as he looked around as well. "Word is that IA rummaged through our computers, and desk searching for anything to nail us."

"That's their job Espo. I don't like it either thought." Kate answered the statement from Esposito. She picked up her cup and placed it in the sink. "Henderson may be ass, but he is a through one."

The group laughed at the statement, but the laughter stopped as soon as Kate's phone rang. "Beckett." Rick slide a notepad over to her so she could write the name down.

"Detective it's Tory. Had to step out to call you, because IA has the phones bugged." Tory Ellis stated from outside on the street. "Name on photo you sent me is Sergei Vlaskoff. Had to have a friend of mine run it because IA is monitoring everybody here."

"Got it Tory thanks." Kate replied ending the phone call. She had wrote the name down on the pad Castle had slide over to her. "Sergei Vlaskoff is the name to the face."

The group moved to the office so that they could look him up on the computer. Castle had taken back over the computer and typed the name in the search window. He clicked on a link of the New York Times.

"Sergei Vlaskoff, a suspect of orchestrating more than a dozen hits for the Russian mafia leaves the courthouse after being found not guilty." Castle read the tag line in the article.

"Bad as he comes." Esposito stated as he looked at the article with the picture. He made notes in his notebook.

"I heard of him. Back in the 90s, he was suspected of taking a contract on a federal witness." Kate stated as well as she continued to read the article. "How did Henderson miss this?"

"He has a grudge against you for some reason." Ryan replied to the question as he moved to the computer to look at some other information. "Our boy Sergei is also suspected in the murder of an undercover cop that was trying to bring down a drug operation within the Russian mafia."

"How long do you think IA investigation will take dad?" Alexis stated from the doorway. She had startled them by sneaking in on them.

"Shouldn't take that long sweetie. We didn't do anything." Rick said getting up from the computer and walking over to his daughter giving her a hug. "It will be okay."

"Your dad is right honey, shouldn't be too long, and we could put this whole ugliness behind us." Lanie also stated getting nods from the group. Alexis smiled at them and left. "Poor thing."

Everyone nodded and sat down in the chairs that were brought in so they could do their work. The silence was only for a minute.

"So now what, do we stop here and wait to be cleared?" Castle asked.

"It be the smart thing to do." Ryan replied half-heartily. He knew that they could never sit around that long.

"Beckett, what do you think?" Esposito asked getting up and walking over to the desk standing near Kate who was on the computer.

"Half of me wants to agree with Ryan, and other half wants me to kick Henderson's ass for putting us through this, especially Alexis." Kate replied who was scrolling through the IA files from the case. "Rick, do you still have a connection in the mayor's office?"

"I still take his money occasionally at poker." Castle answered with a smile. He saw the looks of the faces of his friends. "Whoa guys are you seriously thinking that I call in that favor?"

"Not me dude, your wife suggested it." Esposito said getting a look from Kate. "What, you brought it up."

"That's a favor that shouldn't be called in, because then it could backfire on us and the mayor." Castle argued to the group.

"Babe, I'm not suggesting that he end the investigation, maybe put a word in the commissioner's ear." Kate said with the sly smile she uses that gets Rick going.

"Okay first of all no fair with the smile, you know what that does." Castle replied with a smile of his own to match his wife's. He shifted on his feet. "Secondly, he's on his last term and he may not be heavy in the favor department anywhere anymore."

The rest of the group just shrugged knowing that Castle may be right. Kate decided to continue to look into the IA investigation of them, to see what else they may be overlooking.

"Geez Beckett, how much of that money is yours?" Esposito asked as she looked over hers and Castle's bank statements.

"Stop Javi." Lanie scolded him with a smile. She then looked at Kate. "Seriously Kate, how much of that is yours?"

"Geez guys, come on we love each other." Kate replied with a smile as she continued to scroll on. "Half of it."

"I may want to sleep with one eye open." Castle said laughing. He stood by the screen looking at some of the files that Kate was scrolling through. "Whoa Kate, back up one file."

"You see something Castle?" Esposito asked coming over to get a better look.

"Yeah, this file here." Castle tapped the screen. Kate clicked on it and the file opened to a bunch of surveillance photos. "Son of a bitch."

"He's had us under surveillance a long time." Kate replied scrolling through the photos. The earliest date started the day after Rick went missing. "This is the day after you went missing."

"He must have felt you were abusing resources." Ryan replied.

"That doesn't matter, it was still a legitimate case." Esposito replied as Kate continued to scroll through the photos. "That is me and Lanie while at dinner with her friends from medical school."

"Me, Jenny and Sara Grace at the park." Ryan said with a little bit of anger in his voice. He looked around the room. "Castle make the call would you please so I can beat this guy to a pulp?"

"Take a number." Castle replied as other photos included Martha and Alexis. They all heard the ringtone of Kate's phone going off.

"Beckett." Kate said as she picked up her phone.

"It's Captain Gates, Detective." Gates said from her office. She stared out into the bullpen as the IA investigation team was closing up boxes of evidence, and other material. "The IA team has wrapped up its investigation here at the precinct. Looks like most of them agree it's a no- issue."

"We have evidence that Detective Henderson was investigating us prior to this incident Captain." Kate said as she stood up from the desk. She told the captain about the surveillance photos.

"Let me check within my sources at IA, detective and I'll get back to you." Captain Gates told Kate as she watch Henderson board with the last group of investigators. "Hang in there."

"Thanks Captain." Kate replied as she hung up the phone. The remainder of the group looked at her. "Captain is going to see if IA has anything about these earlier surveillance photos."

The group nodded and decided to wait for the call back from the Captain. The silence of the moment was deafening.

"Dips on the X-Box." Castle said leaving the office. The group laughed and followed Castle out of the office towards the kitchen again where Martha and Alexis were sitting down. "Ryan call Jenny and have her bring Sarah Grace over for dinner. This may be a while."

Ryan smile and pulled out his phone, while Rick pulled out food to start dinner. Kate came around to help him by starting to chop up the veggies.

"What you making Castle?" Esposito asked as he looked on.

"An Italian chicken casserole, with an Italian salad." Castle replied as he washed the chicken and prepped the noodles. "Maybe some garlic bread to go with it."

"Okay, if you are cooking that, I am definitely staying." Lanie said as she saw Castle add the spices and flavoring for the casserole. She looked over at Kate who despite the situation they were going through had a smile on her face. "Kate, I envy you."

Kate looked up and smiled at her friends. "I like helping Rick with this, and it allows me to unwind every time."

Their nodded and enjoyed watching the couple work together as a team to get the dinner completed. Jenny with Sarah Grace, showed up prior to the casserole coming out of the oven. Esposito, Lanie, and Ryan set the table as Alexis got the wine out of the storage while Martha lit the candles on the table. Despite the investigation over them, the little family that had developed settled into for a lovely dinner.

"Castle that was outstanding." Lanie stated leaning back in her chair sipping the wine that was also excellent. "I may have to come over more."

"Thank you Lanie." Castle replied to the compliment that Lanie gave him. He looked over to Jenny and Sarah Grace. Jenny was in the process of cleaning Sarah up. "She seemed to enjoy it too Jenny."

"I know. Thank heavens I have spare clothes in the back." Jenny stated throwing a smile down towards Castle. She wiped off Sarah Grace's face. "Is there someplace I could change her?"

"You can use our room Jenny." Kate said pushing her chair back. She showed Jenny the way to the bedroom. As soon as the door was closed Kate walked back over to the table. "Kevin, you want to back out of what we are doing, I won't blame you."

"Same here man." Esposito replied to the comment that Kate made.

"I second that one." Lanie replied as she saw Sarah Grace look over her mother's shoulders waving at the group.

"Same here Ryan." Castle replied getting nods from also Alexis and Martha who had tears in their eyes.

"Excuse me Dad." Alexis said getting a nod from her father.

"Kevin dear, you have an absolute beautiful family." Martha replied drying her eyes with a napkin. "Now dears if you excuse me."

Martha got up and walked towards the stairs to join her granddaughter who was already closing the door to her room. Jenny walked out a minute later, with a clean Sarah Grace. Ryan walked over and kissed his family good bye.

As soon as he walked back over to the table he sat down. "There be no way I could look my daughter in the eyes if I let you guys go down without me."

Castle got up from the table and walked into the office. He came out a moment later, pressing a contact name in his phone. "Bob, Rick, I need to call in a favor."

The group looked at Castle in shock.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A new approach**

"This is bull and you know it Captain." Detective Henderson said in Captain Gates office the following morning. He stood there with his hands on his hips and looked at her with fury in his eyes. "Mr. Castle used his influence to end this investigation."

"From my understanding detective, it was the commissioner that end it." Captain Gates replied to the accusation with a straight face. Yet on the inside she was smiling because the bastard was getting his due. "From what I hear, it wasn't much of an investigation."

"Don't get sarcastic with me Captain, the mayor may be on his last terms, but Mr. Castle is still one of his best friends." Detective Henderson answered the Captains comments. He still didn't move from his spot. "He put the idea in the mayors….."

"Now listen to me Henderson, you had no reason to investigate my best detective, her family or fellow detectives." Gates stated with force in her voice. She walked around her desk and stood in front of him. "I still have contacts inside IA and they tell me this was a witch hunt pure and simple. You may have your problems with Detective Beckett, but take them up with HR. Now get the hell out of my precinct."

Henderson took a step back and walked out of Captain Gates and past the group of Rick, Kate, Kevin and Javier. They saw him the board the elevator they just came off and throw daggers at them with his eyes. They walked back towards their desk, where Captain Gates was waiting for them.

"My sources at IA before Mr. Castle made his phone call got back to me. It's a witch hunt pure and simple." Captain Gates told the ensemble who gathered around desks. "Commissioner can't suspend him though. Says the order came down from 1PP somewhere outside his office."

"1PP has a mole within its ranks." Ryan said getting a nod from Captain Gates.

"Not our concern right now, it's the murder you were all set up for." Captain Gates told them. They heard the ding of the elevator again and saw a couple of uniforms wheeling in boxes of evidence. "This is everything that IA has. My source there says everything is good."

"Right thanks Captain. Maybe we should get digging." Kate said getting a nod from the captain. She and her team began to unload the boxes and started to place the materials on their desk. Castle went and got the whiteboard.

It took a hour of work to sort through everything, but they had put photos, worked out a rough timeline and a photo of their Russian suspect on the board as well.

"Well at least we have a better understanding of what they have and don't have." Castle remarked getting nods from the rest of the group. He picked up a file off the desk and began to flip through it. "Did they interview the widow?"

"I don't see a statement sheet anywhere." Esposito said looking through the stack of paper. He scrummaged around some more. "Got it. Just the usual basic questions and ask if she recognizes any of us. Just you Castle from the media."

"Figures." Ryan replied looking through some of the as well. He threw a file down with some exasperation on to his. "Henderson screwed the pooch, completely ignoring the Russian."

"Well he is IA after all." Kate remarked with a smirk. She was looking through the files as well. She stopped on a witness statement report. "This is from Josh. Says he saw a white male causicsan about 6'5 wearing a hoodie walking up to the car and shoot the driver."

"Sergei isn't 6'5, he is 5'10." Castle remarked getting a look from the group. "Looked it up."

"Anyway, lab is going over both cars. Ryan where's the surveillance footage from the where the murder took place?" Kate asked

"Got it right here." Ryan held up the DVD. "About to give it Tory."

"Good, then you and Espo go scour that crime scene again for anything that IA may have missed." Kate told them. Ryan and Esposito nodded and grabbed the photos of the crime scene and headed to the elevator. "Castle you and me are going to have a little chat with the widow again."

"You think see will remember something that she didn't tell IA?" Castle asked following his wife towards the elevator. "She is emotional already Kate, doubly so because of being pregnant."

"I know that, but verify." Kate said as she and Castle board the elevator. The journey took them about 30 minutes with the New York traffic. Kate knocked on the door which opened partly. "Miss. DeGarmo, Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle NYPD, can we come in."

Ms. DeGarmo nodded and let them into the apartment. "I don't know how I can help you detective, I already told the other detectives what I know, which isn't much."

"Yes I understand Ma'am, but we were reassigned to the case so we are verifying the information." Kate told the widow who had sat down rather gingerly because of the pregnancy. "You stated that your husband often picked up extra jobs through the security company?"

"Yes it was a way for us to earn a little extra income." Ms. DeGarmo stated as she looked over at Kate.

"Two nights ago, he was providing security for this group at Rizzo's. Do you recognize anyone?" Kate asked handing over a still shot of the video that they had taken from the video.

"Just my husband, and Dr. Nigel." said looking at the picture. She was about to hand the picture back when she looked it at one more time. "I recognize you detective."

"Yes, we were there celebrating my mother's good review from a play." Castle remarked with a smile that made the widow feel at ease. "Did you or your husband know the doctor?"

"No." Ms. DeGarmo stated handing back the picture to Kate. "If he wasn't working at his job at Rockefeller Center, he was picking these jobs up. I have been out of work for a few months."

"Ms. DeGarmo, did the previous detectives ask about me, Mr. Castle or anyone else in the photo?" Kate asked.

"They did, but no we didn't know you. Mr. Castle I know from his books, we are big fans." Ms. DeGarmo answered with some tears in her eyes. "Other than that, they seemed convince that you weren't involved."

"Thank you. We are trying to clarify the information. If I may ask Ms. DeGarmo, is there anything that you can recall as strange over the past couple weeks?" Kate asked. She was wondering why Castle wasn't asking anything.

"Now that you mention it. Bradley said he thought he was being followed a few nights ago." Ms. DeGarmo said. She struggled to get up but Castle helped her to her feet. "He asked me one night to snap a picture as he came into the building." She walked over and handed a camera over to Kate. "Last picture."

Kate scrolled through the photos and found the one that she was told about. She looked at it for a moment and then handed it over to Castle. "It's Sergei."

"Who?" Ms. DeGarmo asked.

"A bad Russian dude." Castle stated as he handed the camera back to Kate. He looked at his wife who nodded. "He was there the night at the restaurant."

"Oh no." Ms. DeGarmo cried as she sat back down on the couch.

"Kate, maybe Ms. DeGarmo should leave town for a few days." Castle stated.

"I agree. Ms. DeGarmo do have friends and family that you can stay with?" Kate asked getting up and walking over towards the widow.

"Yeah my folks who are in upstate New York right now." said getting help from Kate and Rick. "When do you want me to leave?"

"As soon as possible." Kate replied. She got contact information from the widow after helping pack. She and Castle left shortly afterwards. "We normally don't allow that, but I feel so bad for her."

"I agree Kate, so do I." Castle answered his wife's comment. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Within a little while they were back at the precinct, and saw that Esposito and Ryan had return and were going over the information from IA. Kate sat down at her desk, while Castle went to the break room to get some coffee.

"How did it go at the crime scene?" Kate asked pulling out her notebook and started jotting down what she learned from the widow.

"Not much else there. Tory has the footage from the surveillance footage." Esposito stated as he went continue to go through the work that IA had put in. "Lab reports from the casings come back to a Russian Makarov."

"I know I maybe the jealous husband here, but what was was Josh doing on that side of town?" Castle asked walking back into the bullpen with his and Kate's coffee. He got a playful slap from his wife.

"Trust me, I agree with Castle. Josh has an Upper West Side Apartment, works at Roosevelt." Ryan stated after looking over Josh's interview notes. He passed them to Kate. "What the hell was he doing down in that neighborhood?"

"Maybe a clinic he volunteers at?" Esposito asked looking up from the lab reports and walking over to the desk.

"No clinics have him on record. There is a record of every doctor that does." Ryan answered the question while looking at Kate.

"Girlfriend maybe?" Castle asked.

"Nope, happily married to the CEO of Brice Pharmaceuticals." Kate answered Castle question as she handed over the folder to Castle. Kate rubbed her temples with the palm of her hands. "This doesn't make any sense. None of it."

"Maybe we should look at this from a different angle." Castle said getting up and going to the murder board. He studied it for a moment. "Everything has happen because somehow we are interconnected somewhat."

"What do you mean Castle?" Ryan asked.

"Dinner at Rizzo's, the victim is there. The victim is the boyfriend of the girlfriend of the man who kidnapped Alexis." Castle said pointing to each of the main points on the murder board. "Josh being someplace out of the ordinary. It's all interconnected."

"Castle's right." Kate said, getting up and looking at the file again. She flipped it over to a second page. "Josh said he was driving a 2004 Mercedes."

"So maybe it's wife's car." Ryan stated.

"Not her. She drives a 2014 BMW 4 series." Esposito said looking up the CEO's DMV record. Esposito also looked up from his computer. "Josh still has his Harley, and he has a 2014 BMW 4 Series as well."

"Okay so we need to look at this for what it is." Kate said looking at the murder board. She pulled out a surveillance photo that IA had taken of the group at a party for Kate and Rick. "This is about us, not for criminal cases, but someone is after us."

As Kate placed the picture on the board, Tory came by the murder board with a look on her face. "You guys have to see this."

The group made their way into the conference room where Tory had set up her equipment with the screen. Tory brought up some surveillance footage from the day of the incident.

"Watch the guy at the corner her as the victim made the turn." Tory said. The video played at normal speed. "Did you see it?"

"The guy was talking on his phone, big deal. Everyone has a phone in New York." Esposito said as the video rewound again.

Tory played it at a slower speed and zoomed in on the gentlemen at the corner. Kate noticed it first. "He placed a call as soon as the victim started his turn."

"Right now, watch this." Tory said as she moved to another footage from another camera. She played it at normal speed. "Watch the bike messenger and the Mercedes there at the end of the street."

"The bike messenger intentionally darted out in front the Mercedes." Ryan said as the footage played on. They didn't notice Captain Gates come in the room as well.

"Play that back Tory." Captain Gates said. Tory did as she was told and the footage began to play again. "The Mercedes wasn't even going until the bike messenger started to move."

"Tory did you zoom….." Kate started to aske.

"In on the driver of the Mercedes. Yes I did, and it is Dr. Heartthrob." Tory replied to the start of the question. She handed over the picture of Josh to Kate who gave her a look. "What a girl can dream."

"Tory can you play that one more time but in slower motion." Castle asked Tory who nodded. Castle watched the footage as it went to the collision. "Where did the shooter come from?"

"Haven't seen yet, but he comes in right here." Tory answered pointing to an area just outside the camera's field of view. She looked at the ensemble group. "He came from a blind spot in between the two cameras."

"Run a height analysis on the shooter and see if you can match height to Sergei." Kate told Tory who nodded.

"So now the question is, what is Josh doing involved in a hit on a security guard?" Ryan asked the group.

"The bigger question is; what does this have to do with us?" Castle added.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Breaking down the lie**

"I say we go over to Josh's apartment, slap the cuffs on him and charge with accessory to murder." Esposito stated as the group was at their desk.

"And before we get two words out of him, his wife's lawyers will have him out on bail." Ryan stated as he sat on the edge of his desk. He looked over at Kate. "We need something more."

"Like what? Video surveillance; his lawyer will argue that he stopped to take a call, and started to move once the call was over." Beckett said leaning back into her chair and looking over her friends and husband. "You have been awfully quiet Castle?"

"I was thinking back when I was researching one of my Derek Storm books. The character was in the same situation, and Storm told the character the same thing that was told to Woodward and Bernstein." Castle said picking up the folder that held everyone's financial records. "Follow the….."

"Money. No way IA would request financial information on a witness." Ryan stated getting off the edge of the desk and moved to his computer screen.

"I'm going to check to see exactly when did Dr. Heartthrob start working at Roosevelt." Esposito said getting onto the phone at his desk to call the hospital.

Beckett got up and walked over to stand next to Castle at the murder board. "What are you looking for?"

"Something to break this down." Castle said looking at the murder board. His demeanor was quite attractive to Kate, who rarely saw him like this on a case.

"Well in his statement Josh said we was in the neighborhood scouting for places for a new clinic." Beckett said after reading the statement again. She looked at the board. "He also said the bike messenger darted out into traffic and he swerved to avoid hitting him."

"Well I don't know how he drives, but generally I slam on the brakes first." Castle said with a smirk on his face that Kate notice, but didn't do anything about. "Why would he be scouting for clinics that early in the morning?"

"Because he wasn't dog." Esposito answered the question after getting off the phone. He walked over to the board. "Josh started working at the hospital two weeks after he returned from the Amazon. Highly respected surgeon, who is on the verge of becoming chief surgeon. Doesn't need to set up a clinic in that neighborhood, because the hospital already has one there."

"So what was he doing there then?" Beckett asked.

"Whatever it was, he got a deposit of five thousand dollars from an off shore bank yesterday." Ryan stated coming back over to the group and putting the printout on the board. "Yet other than that nothing too suspicious."

"There has to be something there." Castle stated.

"Detective." A uniform said handing over an interoffice message envelope.

"Thanks." Kate answered the uniform handing the envelope over. She opened and read the report. "Casings match the murder weapon found in the car, and the Mercedes was reported stolen the night before."

"Shocking that IA failed to find that out." Ryan said sarcastically walking back over to his desk. He picked up the phone and dialed a number which he hung up a minute later. "I called the garage, they are going to start processing the Mercedes."

"Esposito, you and Ryan take a couple uniforms with you and bring in Josh." Beckett told Esposito. She walked over and sat down and put her head in her hands as Esposito and Ryan left. "Castle, by now we have some sense of what's going on, but the deeper we go…."

"The less it makes sense." Castle replied rubbing her neck. He stopped and looked to the murder board. "That's it Kate. We have to look past the money."

"What do you mean Castle?" Beckett asked getting up.

"Generally other people getting involved in mob hits means a way to settle a debt. What if it's not money?" Castle said pointing to the board. Castle wrote on the board. "Protect someone you love."

"You're thinking it's not Josh, but the wife that is having the money issue." Kate said getting a nod from Castle. She reached for her phone and dialed the DA. "I need a financial warrant on Karen Brice, of Brice Pharmaceuticals."

Within a half of hour of Kate's phone call, Karen Brice's financial records were on Kate's desk, and she and Castle were going through them.

"Here it is I found it." Castle said highlighting a portion of the financial information. He passed it over to Beckett. Beckett took it from him. "She hid it as a business transaction, but that business is located in Brighton Beach."

"Home of Little Odessa." Beckett replied to the statement as she looked more and more. "She has at least a half dozen of these transactions every month."

"Ms. Brice has a gambling habit." Castle said taking the records back from his wife. He put them all together. "Looks like poker, and she stopped playing because she probably couldn't afford it anymore."

"Or more than likely she kept taking out loans, and fall behind." Beckett surmised as she looked at her husband. She smiled at him. "Large pots, and anything taken out of the business funds, or other accounts would draw a red flag."

But before Castle could answer, the elevators opened and Esposito, Ryan, and a handcuff Josh walked into the bullpen and towards interrogation, with a lawyer in tow. Castle and Kate walked towards the observation room.

"Wife called the lawyer as we arrested Josh at home on his day off." Esposito said staring through the window. He was handed a stack of paperwork. "What's this?"

"Josh isn't having the problems with the Russians, the wife is." Kate replied to the question. Ryan and Esposito looked at her with some confusion. "Whatever it was, Josh got involved to protect his wife."

As Beckett and Castle left observation, Esposito looked at Ryan. "This is not going to be pretty."

Beckett and Castle walked into the interrogation room. Josh's lawyer stood up from behind the table. "Lawrence Kerpowski of Kerpowski, Miller and Baxter. I have advised my client not to answer any question."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Kerpowski. Nice to see you again Josh." Beckett said sitting down in the chair across the table from Josh and his lawyer. "Okay before we begin, I am giving you the opportunity to help yourself out here and just come clean."

"Detective, my client is innocent of anything you're accusing him of." Mr. Kerpowski replied to the statement from Kate.

"Of course he is. He is innocent of accessory to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of stolen property, grand theft auto, lying to a police office, and lying on a official police report." Castle said with a smile towards the lawyer and not looking at Josh. Then he looked at Kate. "That about sums it up."

"Just about. Oh and we have these lovely surveillance photos of the innocent doctor behind the wheel of said vehicle during the murder." Beckett answered her husband state with a smile of her own. She slide the photo over to Josh for him to look at. "That's a pretty good likeness."

"My client received the car from a friend, to which my client did not know it was stolen." Mr. Kerpowski countered Beckett's argument. "I know about the history between my client and you detective."

"That doesn't matter at this point, because I have surveillance footage that shows your client at a dead stop then starting the car forward to which the accident occurred and my victim murdered." Kate said leaning forward in the chair. She looked at both Josh and his lawyer. "There was no phone call he was answering, nothing to distract from seeing the bike messenger. Plus we have this."

Kate slide over the finianacl records of Josh's wife to the lawyer. The highlighted portions clearly visible on the sheets. "Monthly payments to a business in Little Odessa to a business that has no ties to her business."

"Those are investments detective." Mr. Kerpowski said tossing the records back at Kate. He then glanced over. "Charge my client or we are…."

"You see counselor, you're not leaving. Those businesses are front for the Russian mob, and I bet if I go poking around by asking OCCB, the FBI, what do you think may turn up?" Kate asked the both of them. That got Josh's attention and in observation Ryan and Esposito knew that Kate had him.

Castle jumped in as well. "Your wife had a gambling problem didn't she?"

"Josh you don't have to answer…" Mr. Kerpowski started to say before Josh cut him off.

"Shut up Lawrence." Josh said to his attorney while turning in his chair. He then turned back towards Rick and Kate. "I found out about her addiction a couple months before our wedding. I thought she was cheating on me, but she was playing in high stakes poker games but only during nights when I was working the night shift."

"What did you do about it?" Beckett asked making notes.

"We sat down and talked about it and she went into gamblers anonymous." Josh replied to the question looking down at the table. "It was an embarrassment for her, not professionally but personally because she felt she let me down."

"How much did she owe?" Castle asked.

"You have to understand. She would draw attention if she drew it out of the business or personal accounts, so she took loans out with the house." Josh said looking back up at Beckett and Castle. "She owed somewhere about 15 million dollars."

"That is why the payments to Little Odessa." Castle said getting a nod from Josh.

"But she couldn't keep up and they demanded prompter payments." Josh replied shifting in his chair before continuing. "I went to them to see if I could work something out. The man who I met with said he be willing to forgive the debt if I will be willing to help them out with something."

"Before we go any further, I want a deal in place." Mr. Kerpowski pleaded.

"Your client was instrumental in leaving a 9 month pregnant woman a widow, and a child without a father. I'm not willing to deal yet." Kate snapped at the lawyer. She then turned her attention back to Josh. "Go on."

"Trust me I did not have any idea that they were going to murder that man." Josh said pleading to Castle and Beckett, who still looked unconvinced. "They texted me with the date, time and place to be. I was told to call 911 after the accident. I thought they were going to kidnap him not kill him"

"Why didn't you come to us Josh, we could have helped." Castle stated.

Josh shot them a look before answering. "Come crawling to my ex-girlfriend and writer husband to help me with my wife's problem with the Russians. Not on your life Castle. Not after everything you put her through. You don't deserve her."

"Watch it Josh." Esposito said from behind the glass with Ryan nodding

Beckett didn't leap from her seat, but remain stoned face. She started to rise from her seat. "I do deserve him Josh, because he has been way more understanding than you ever where. No deal, in fact I going to talk to the Feds. Maybe they be willing…"

"Wait a minute… The feds?" Josh said with a little bit of panic in his voice.

"Yeah. All those charges that she read. Turn you over to the feds, becomes a capital case." Castle said getting out of his seat.

"Wait I can give you a name." Josh replied with whole lot more panic in his voice. Castle and Beckett returned to their seats. "He said he wanted revenge on the person who killed a cousin of his."

"What's the name Josh?" Kate demanded.

"The name of the man who was killed was Gregory Volkov. That is who he wants revenge for." Josh stated. Castle's eyes widen and he quickly got up followed by Kate who moved quickly towards the door. Ryan and Esposito also were moving quickly.

The group nearly ran into each other as move towards their desk to places calls.

=====================I hope everyone is enjoying the story. I appreciate the reviews I am getting. Please keep them coming.=======================


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Old enemy new faces**

"Alexis when you get this please call…." Castle said into his cell phone as he tried to reach Alexis on her phone.

"Martha, its Kate please call me….." Beckett said into her phone as she tried to reach Martha who was either at her acting school or rehearsal for her play.

"Dispatch this is Detective Ryan, send a patrol unit to Mr. Castle and Detective Beckett's residence….." Ryan said into his phone as he was trying to check on the home of Kate and Rick.

"Send one of your campus patrol unit to Ms. Alexis Castle location…" Esposito said into his phone as he tried to coordinate with Columbia Campus police to secure Alexis.

Captain Gates saw all the action around in the bullpen and was intrigued by it. She walked out of her office to try and find out what was going on. "Detective Beckett, what is going on?"

"Sir, Mr. Davidson gave us a name that is link to Alexis's case." Beckett told Captain Gates who walked on over. She explained what she learned in interrogation.

"Good god. Any word on Alexis or Ms. Rodgers?" Captain Gates asked as she walked over to the murder board.

"Alexis is either making up a exam or in the library studying." Castle answered walking over too the murder board as well. He pulled out his cell phone. "I'm waiting on a call back."

"I sent campus police to secure her as well." Esposito also added in.

"We are also waiting on Martha to call us back as well, but she may be at rehearsal." Kate add as well.

"There is a patrol unit on the way to your residence to check out as well." Ryan came over and added to the conversation with the group.

"Find out who this man's cousin is and arrest him." Captain Gates ordered to the group who all nodded and started back towards the office. "I'm going to call 1PP to see if we can't get a protection detail as well for you and your family Mr. Castle."

"Thank you Captain." Castle replied as he turned his attention back to the murder board. He looked it over. He felt Kate come slide up next to him. "Do you think OCCB may have anything on Gregory Volkov?"

"Maybe, maybe Interpol or the feds." Beckett replied as she also looked at the board. She turned to her head to look at Castle. "I can't ask anyone I know in the FBI. I burned all those bridges."

"How about Will Sorenson?" Castle asked as his phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw it was Gina sending him a text reminding him about his chapters. "Gina."

"He's in the Middle East somewhere on assignment." Beckett replied. She saw Castle's look on her face. "I'll call the FBI office here in city."

Castle smiled at his wife as his phone rang again. He looked at the screen and quickly answered it. "Alexis where are you?"

The team watched intently for a second as Castle listen to his daughter. He gave them a thumbs up. Esposito phone also rang and he answered it.

"Alexis is ok, the campus police are with her now." Castle report as Esposito also got the same report from the campus police. "She was taking an exam."

"Good, now we have to hear from Martha." Ryan said Beckett relieved that her step daughter was ok, moved to her phone and dialed a number. "Where do we stand?"

"Trying to find this relative of Gregory Volkov." Castle responded with a smirk. Though the team knew what happen, he would worry about what this may do to Alexis. He felt his wife's hands on his.

"Worried about Alexis?" Beckett asked. She saw Castle nod and she came about to face Castle. "Listen, talked to the FBI office here. They are going to send us everything they can on Russians here."

"Richard, Kate." A familiar voiced called out across the bullpen towards them. The group turned around and saw Martha strolling on into the bullpen escorted by a uniform. "Thank you Michael."

The uniform smiled and nodded leaving Martha with her family and friends within the bullpen. "I received your message, is there something wrong?"

"You could have called Martha." Beckett said with a smile on her face, seeing that her mother in law was alive and well. "I'm pretty sure I said that."

"Oh don't be frank, Kate, it's on my way." Martha replied flashing her million dollar smile at her daughter in law. She saw the face of her son, and that told her a different story. "I am assuming there is something wrong?"

"Yes mother. You remember Josh?" Castle asked getting a nod from his mother, who remembers. Castle shifted on his feet and quickly explained what they learned. "The man that Josh dealt with is a cousin to Gregory Volkov."

"Oh dear, how is Alexis taking the news?" Martha asked now extremely worried about her granddaughter.

"I didn't tell her yet, all I told her the police presence was because of the case." Castle explained. Castle again shifted on his feet thinking about his wording next. "I'm worried about what this do to her."

"Oh Richard, the girl is a level headed. Tell her, and we'll all help her." Martha countered her son's statement getting nods from everyone in the bullpen. She walked over and took Castle and Kate's hands. "You want to protect her I know, but sometimes to protect them you have to bring their fears to the front."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other and their eyes agreed. Weathered it be with Alexis or any future children they had. The desire to protect them at all cost from the monster of the world, took priority. But child has to leave and face those monsters on their own.

"Your right Martha, we'll tell her tonight." Beckett said to Martha. Martha nodded, and gave them a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Beckett heard her computer beep. She opened up her email and saw a messege from the FBI office in New York. "FBI emailed me their file on the Russian mob."

She scanned across the brief that the FBI provided and opened up the pictures that were in the email as well. She sent them to the picture printer so that the team could go through them together.

"Here, here. I found Gregory Volkov." Castle said handing over a picture a half an hour later after receiving the pictures. "That is him with someone else who had their back to the camera."

"I have the matching set right here." Ryan replied who walked over and handed a picture to the Beckett. "Name is Vladimir Aminev. Was the head of the Russian mob until 6 months ago."

"Was?" Espositio asked coming over by the desk.

"Found pieces of him scattered all over the Brooklyn." Ryan replied. Esposito nodded his understanding. "He wasn't related to Gregory, but from what I gathered the Russian mob in Paris and here often had discussions to determine course of actions."

"Well maybe the FBI should figure out who this is?" Beckett asked handing over a photograph of Gregory, Vladimir and another gentlemen having a drink. "There are no other photos of him anywhere."

"Well I think I found our family member and he's not looking too bad if you like those mail order types." Esposito handed over a photograph to Kate. She studied it for a moment with confusion. "Josh said he met with a man, I don't think the man he met with was the headman or women."

"What?" Castle said astonished by the dialogue going on. He walked over and looked over his wife shoulders. "Ravishing Russian, if you go for those types."

"Good save Castle." Beckett said with a smile on her face. She looked at the photo and studied it for a moment. "FBI has not identified her yet. All they have by her is Lady X."

Castle skimmed the brief that the FBI sent over with the case file. "Apparently she showed up in the area around the time Vladimir went to pieces so to speak."

There was a collective groan from the group at the comment. With it late in the day, and no other leads to go on, Ryan and Esposito went home. Castle stuck around watching his wife stare at the photos.

"You stare at them any hard, they are going to start moving." Castle told his wife with a chuckle. He stood up and move to her desk. "Kate, you sent the pictures to Interpol to see if they could identify her. Let's go home."

"Someone is threating my family and friends Rick, and that person is right here." Beckett replied to the statement. She looked up at her husband who held out his hand for her. There it was, the compassion, the caring man who always looked after her well-being. "You're right Castle. I won't get any answers sitting here. Give me a minute."

As soon as Kate had gathered her belongings the coupled walked out of the precinct and headed home. As the cab dropped them off in front of the loft, Beckett noticed a undercover patrol vehicle parked across the street, and two detectives from the local precinct sitting in the front seat.

"Guess Captain Gates got us that protection detail." Kate remarked as she nodded to Eduardo who opened the door.

"Or they are assigned by internal affairs to surveil us." Rick remarked as he nodded to Eduardo as well handing him a ten spot. The elevator ride to the loft took the normal time. They spotted a uniform officer posted outside their home. "Ok. Protection detail. Officer."

The uniform nodded to them as they walked into the loft. Sitting on the couch was Alexis who was looking over a textbook, while Martha was sitting at the counter with a big glass of wine in her hand. Alexis looked up and came running over giving her dad and Kate a hug.

"Who told you?" Castle asked after Alexis released her hug.

"Grams." Alexis responded to the question. Both Kate and Rick shot looks over to Martha. "Don't blame her, I beg her to tell me."

"Alexis we were going to tell you, but were trying to figure out the best way." Castle replied to his daughter comment.

"Alexis, we didn't want to bring up anything that maybe would trigger bad memories." Kate also remarked as she took Alexis's hands and together they walked towards the couch. "Honey, we don't know who we are up against, so until we solve this, whenever you are not home, you will have security."

"I'm not worried about me, but you and dad." Alexis stated with some tears welling up in her eyes. Kate and Castle saw this, along with Martha all hugged Alexis.

"Don't worry about us, I am with some of the best detectives in the NYPD." Rick remarked to his daughter's statement. "We'll solve this."

The next morning, Kate and Rick arrived at the precinct a littler earlier than usual. The hope being that the Interpol liaison would have a name to go with the face that they suspected was now running the Russian Mafia in the city. Kate sat down on at her computer while Rick went to go make them some coffee from the breakroom. He came back carrying two cups.

"Thanks." Beckett told him as he set the cup down on the desk. She leaned back and the chair and looked at Castle. "Nothing yet from the Interpol liaison."

"Not surprising. They only got it last night." Castle replied taking a sip of his coffee. He looked at Kate who was stirring her coffee a little bit. "You didn't sleep well last night."

"Neither did you." Beckett remarked. They both smiled at each other. She went back to her coffee. "I was thinking about Alexis, her and you in Paris, the situation we are in now."

"I was thinking the same thing too." Castle replied to his wife's statement. He looked down at his coffee. Then he heard, Ryan and Esposito coming off the elevator.

"Ryan, I am telling you. IA intentionally dropped the ball on this one." Esposito stated coming over towards his desk. He set his stuff down and looked at Beckett and Castle. "Morning."

"Javi, I agree with you, but remember the order came down from within 1PP." Ryan replied setting his stuff down on the desk. He looked at his partner. "To look at us, Russians have somebody on the in up there. Morning Castles."

"Morning. If we are done with the debate." Beckett remarked to her team with a smile. She taped the picture of the lady they decided was not the head of the Russian Mafia in New York. "Top priority today, find out who she is, and find a way to bring her in."

"Detective Beckett, One PP wants a update on where….." Captain Gates said walking towards the group when she stopped to look at a picture on the murder board. "What is Ilana Volkov doing up there?"

"Captain?" Castle asked looking at Captain Gates.

"Illana Volkov is the daughter of Vladimir Aminev top lieutenant before he ended up face down in the East River." Captain Gates said walking over to the board and taking the picture off. She studied it for a moment. "Her dad kept the kids away from the family business. She went to Colombia with my sister but for the business program."

"How do you know her sir?" Beckett asked now wondering how her precinct commander knew this.

"Her father stopped by campus plenty of times to check on her." Captain Gates replied. She set the picture back up on the board. "I was young cop back in the day and it wasn't hard to know Yuri Volkov."

"How come she's not in the system or intel reports?" Ryan asked now coming over by the murder board.

"Except for a marijuana bust, she stayed out of trouble and her dad kept her away from the exposure." Captain Gates answered Ryan's question. She turned back to Beckett. "I need an update by 1000 hours."

"Let's do a family background check on her." Beckett said out of earshot of the captain. She looked around at her team.

"Yeah before she decides to go all Soviet on us." Castle remarked looking at Beckett.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Dangerous Liaisons**

"I have it." Ryan reported after an hour of checking into the family background Illyana. He walked over and set down the report. "Yuri Volkov's older brother immigrated here in 1967. Married, wife gave birth to Gregory."

"Yuri comes is born here in the United States, becomes involved in the mob by 18, gets married in 1985." Esposito also continued on to the family history of Illyana Volkov. "Illyana born in 1986."

"Alright, there is the family connect. Now we have to connect her to Gregory other than family." Beckett stated as she looked over the updated murder board.

"I got it." Castle replied after looking up everything he could on Illyana. He walked over with his notes. He posted them on the murder board as well. "She graduated with a degree in finical asset management, and got her MBA at Oxford, before running a business in Paris around the time Alexis was there."

"What was the business?" Beckett asked her husband.

"Volkov investment groups." Castle replied pulling the picture of the company logo out of the pile and placing it on the murder board too. "Cousin Illyana was laundering money for Cousin Gregory."

"Good luck proving that in court Castle." Ryan said getting a nod from everyone else.

"They shut down Paris operations around the time Illyana came here to the US." Castle said pointing to the info he had posted on the board. "When did Vladimir go to pieces?"

"Yeah still not funny Castle." Beckett remarked with a smile as she consulted the information from the FBI. "About a year ago."

"Same time Illana came here." Castle answered to the comment. He sat down next to his wife's desk and looked at her. "Know its razor thin, but it's the best we got so far."

"Yeah and her million dollar lawyer will have her out within 30 minutes." Beckett remarked with a small smirk towards her husband. "Yet you are right this is the best lead we got so far."

"Castle may be right." Ryan said from his computer. He had looked up the report on Vladimir's murder and Illyana's travel history. "Vladimir Aminev was report last seen leaving the restaurant where he was known to frequent about September of last year. Illyana returned from Paris around that time. Then other top officials with links to Vladimir Aminev started to drop all over the city. FBI and OCCB suspected either internal power struggle or the Albania's trying to muscle in"

"So Illyana comes home. Kills off the top member of the Russian mob, and his supports and takes over for revenge." Castle said looking at the board. He then looked back over to everyone else. "Toss in Martin Scorsese and you Oscar worthy movie."

"Here's your sub-plot Castle." Esposito said coming over and laying down a picture that they did not go over yesterday. "That is Nikolai Vasily. Muscle linked to Gregory and Vladimir."

"Where was he when Alexis was in Paris?"

"Doing a stint upstate for drug dealing." Esposito answered Castle's question. He looked at Beckett. "Gets out, and she is seen at all the hotspots with him on her arm. Turns out they grew up together too."

"Childhood friend. Not all that strange to be dating." Ryan replied coming over to stand next to Esposito.

"True, but when all the murders that you mentioned occurred, the primary suspect was Nikolai." Esposito remarked.

"Illyana is using boyfriend to take out potential rivals and competition." Castle remarked without being shot down. He looked at the picture on the board. "Josh said he met with a man right?"

"Yeah." Beckett remarked then she looked at the board as well, and realized the track that Castle was on. "Ryan, and Esposito, go take the picture of Nikolai to Josh and see if he can identify him as the man he met with."

Both of them nodded and grabbed their stuff before leaving. Beckett turned to Castle. "You and I Castle are going to visit this restaurant in Little Odessa."

"I'll bring my borsch." Castle remarked with a smile as Beckett smiled and rolled her eyes at the same time.

It took them 30 minutes of driving to reach Brighton Beach. They pulled their car into a parking spot and looked around.

"Not a bad little area if you look at it." Castle stated. He saw a few signs though. "If you can read Russian."

"That one is a bank and that one is a money lender." Beckett said with a smile. She walked around and met Castle on the sidewalk. "It's better than it once was."

"Tell me about it." Castle replied as they started walking towards the restaurant called Little Volga. "Why Little Volga?"

"Owner was born in Stalingrad during the battle." A waiter said in a thick accent as he was setting up tables outside. He eyed them both over. "Don't open for another hour."

"You're open now." Beckett said showing her badge to the waiter. He shrugged his shoulders and opened the door. "Where's the manager?"

"In the office in back." The waiter replied to the question.

"Thanks." Castle said to the waiter who again shrugged as they walked off. "Real friendly type."

"Doesn't trust cops." Beckett replied as they worked their way to the back. "It's from the system they were in."

"Don't remind me." Castle said as they stopped by the office. The door to the office opened.

"We don't open….." The manager started to say when he saw Kate's badge in his face. "What can I do for you officers?"

"Yes sir. We are wondering if this woman has frequent this establishment?" Beckett asked holding up a picture of Illyana.

"She may be a frequent customer, but we get many through here, I'm don't know them entirely." The manager replied to the picture and the question.

"Really, because I have about 30 more of these at my precinct and she seems to be quite a regular." Beckett mentioned again. She held up the picture again. "Want to try again sir?"

"Sorry, like I said, we get a lot of people so she may be a frequent customer." The manager repeated the same statement. He looked at his watch. "If you don't mind, I have to make sure the cooks are doing what they are supposed to be doing."

"Beckett nodded and let the manager head to the back. She and Castle started towards the front of the restaurant. "He's lying."

"I think so, because look at what I grabbed." Castle backed up his wife's statement by pulling out a picture from his suit jacket. Beckett saw him studying something on the wall. "Illyana invested in this place when she came back to the states."

Beckett studied the picture and saw a happy manager handing Illyana a pen to sign partnership papers. "Might be a legimate investment or a way to launder money. Have to get the records for this place." Beckett left the picture on the table and they walked back out to the sidewalk and towards the car.

"Kate, across the street, and 30 yards ahead." Castle pointed out as he moved closer to his wife. He took her hand. "Definitely not NYPD."

"Yeah I spotted them too." Beckett replied as she and Castle walked hand in hand to the car. Once in, Kate started it and left the area. To be safe she also checked her mirrors to make sure they weren't followed. "Clear."

"Think they know something is up?" Castle asked looking back to double check.

"Oh yeah." Beckett replied pulling out her phone and hitting a contact. "Ryan, what did Josh say?"

"Josh definitely says that was the guy he met with." Ryan said back from the precinct and at his desk. He looked at his notes. "Also mentioned that there was a women there, but she remained in the background, but figured because it was a girlfriend or wife."

"Did he give you a name?" Castle asked as well.

"Confirmed Nikolai Vasily." Ryan answered Castle's question. He looked around the bullpen for Esposito. "Just to be safe, we placed Josh into protective custody."

"Okay, find out where Nikolai is and get a warrant out on him." Beckett told him.

"Might be a little difficult." Esposito said now as he walked over by Ryan's desk who put him on speaker.

"Why?" Castle asked.

"Nikolai doesn't have an address. The one he gave his PO put it in the middle of the East River." Esposito answered.

"What about family?" Ryan asked.

"Only living relative lives in Florida, and that is a brother." Esposito answered.

"Kate, in that picture of the Illyana signing the investment papers, there was a door that looked like it lead to a storage area." Castle said. He hung on as Beckett spun the car around, ignoring the honks of people in other vehicles.

"Ryan, call in a warrant and meet us at the restaurant called the Little Volga." Beckett ordered as she drove back towards Brighton Beach. She hung up and looked at Castle. "There was a shelf where the door was supposed to be."

It didn't take long for the warrant to be approved. The evidence given was enough for the judge and DA to sign off. Within a hour of getting the call, the team gathered with ESU and several units from the local precinct. They walked into the restaurant with the patrons looking on.

"I told you that lady…." The manager started to say.

"We're not here for that. Move the shelf where that door is." Beckett ordered the manager who was staring at the warrant in front of his face. He hesitated. "Officer place this man under arrest."

"Detective." A member of ESU had moved the shelf and found the door. It was unlocked.

"Open it." Beckett ordered the man who nodded and he opened the door. Another ESU member went down the stairs followed by the team. "Castle stay back a minute."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Castle said smiling as his wife went down with ESU. He looked waited around and looked at some of the other pictures on the wall. He noticed another one and took it off the wall when shouts came up from downstairs.

Within a minute the team was coming back upstairs with Nikolai in tow. Esposito was leading the man out. "He didn't even put up a struggle."

"Thank you very much everyone, your patience has been appreciated." Kate said to the crowd as she started to walk out. She decided to pull a Castle. "Enjoy the rest of your lunch. Castle lets go."

"Kate, take a look at this." Castle said bringing the picture over. "Found our mystery man, and you won't believe who it is." The picture was of Detective Henderson and an Illyana cuddling up to each other.


	9. Chapter 8

Sorry for the delay folks. At a Family function till midway today.

 **Chapter 8: Love and Lost**

Captain Gates was informed of the news as the team rushed back to the precinct. A judge had signed off on a warrant to check Detective Henderson's financials and his home. The team walked back into the bullpen where Captain Gates was waiting for them by the elevator.

"Henderson is missing. Day you all came back, he banged out sick and hasn't been seen since." Captain Gates informed them. They all walked back towards the desk. "ESU and the lab torn apart his office and home. Found a flash drive taped underneath the fridge. Apparently Henderson was getting five thousand dollars a week to pass information to Illyana."

"What could they have on Henderson to make him an informant for the Russians?" Esposito asked.

"Has two ex-wives and three kids to support." Beckett said getting looks from everyone. She shrugged her shoulders. "Laurie told me."

"Money will do it every time." Esposoito remarked as he sat down at his desk."

"So is Henderson the mole?" Ryan asked.

Castle shook his head and went to the murder board. "I don't think so. He is more likely a pawn or a lonely foot soldier. In most stories and movies, guys like Henderson are expandable and usually the first or last to disappeared. The mole is will probably be somebody with more power."

"A lot of that at 1PP." Ryan added getting a nod from everyone.

"Until we find out, our attention is on Henderson. We have all boroughs on alert, along with rail, bus and airports." Captain Gates added to the conversation. The team acknowledged the Captain's orders and she went back to her office.

"Right now, the way to find Henderson is to talk to Nikolai." Beckett said sitting down at her desk. She looked around. "Where is the uniforms brining him?"

"Had to process him first, he'll be right up." Esposito stated getting a nod from Beckett. He and Ryan began to dive into the new evidence that was uncovered from Henderson's office and apartment.

"Castle what are we missing from all this?" Beckett asked getting up and coming over near the murder board. She looked it over. "It is something that we just can't see or maybe overlooked?"

"Kate we go where the evidence takes us." Castle replied taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "You told me that."

"I didn't think you listened." Beckett said with a smile on her face. She heard Castle's phone go off. "Didn't you finish the chapters?"

"It's not Gina. It's Alexis." Castle answered the question and looked at the message with some confusion. "What?"

"Let me see." Beckett said taking the phone from her husband and staring at the message. "Wants to know if we be free for dinner, because she is cooking."

"How did you get that from those pictures?" Castle asked taking his phone back. The message contained a picture of Kate and Rick, a free sign, dinner, picture of Alexis and food cooking. He shook his head.

"Because I'm the cool step-mother." Beckett said with a laugh as the elevator dinged and uniforms escorted Nikolai towards the interrogation room. "Show time."

Beckett and Castle walked towards the interrogation room as the uniform took his position outside the door to room. Esposito and Ryan took up their positions in the observation room, as Beckett opened the door and her and Castle walked on into the interrogation room.

"Mr. Nikolai Vasily, you are aware of your rights as they have been read to you?" Beckett asked as she took her seat. Nikolai just sat there without even looking at Beckett and Castle. Beckett and Castle looked at each other. "Mr. Vasily, you are aware of your rights?"

Nikolai didn't respond again. Beckett leaned closer to Castle. "He's playing a game."

"He's waiting." Castle replied as he looked over at Nikolai.

"Let me try something." Beckett said as she sat back up straight. She looked at Nikolai straight on. "Mr. Vasily your refusal to answer leads me to believe you understand your rights."

This caught Nikolai's attention as he looked over at Beckett and Castle. Kate shifted her in seat and brought up the notes that she wrote down. "Mr. Vasily you have been identified by a witness, as the person they contacted about paying off a debt owed to your organization. You also have been identified as the man who pursued this witness to take part in a murder. This connection makes you accessory to murder, conspiracy. Not to mention your parole violation for failure to provide a correct address."

Nikolai didn't reply and he didn't move. He sat there just looking at Kate and Castle. Castle leaned forward into his chair and looked at him. "We know about Gregory, Illyana and Detective Henderson. What is your part in this?"

Still nothing from Nikolai. "Was Henderson and Illyana dating and you were tossed aside like a piece of garbage?"

Beckett took the lead from Castle. "We have financials of Henderson, was it you or Illyana that was paying him? Talk to us and you'll get a deal."

Nikolai still said nothing. Beckett and Castle got up and walked towards the door. Beckett looked back. "Last chance Nikolai, give us Illyana and Henderson and you can walk out with minuimn charges and deal."

Without hearing a peep, Beckett and Castle walked into the observation room, where Ryan, Esposito and Captain Gates was waiting for them.

"Man is stone cold." Ryan said still observing the interrogation room without looking at Beckett.

"Generally you get some that curse at you or say lawyer, but this guy thinking he's like a POW." Esposito added to the conversation.

"What do you know about him other than what we found out?" Captain Gates asked also staring through the window into interrogation.

"Just what we have." Ryan stated. He looked at Beckett and Castle.

"We could try something that has been used in the past." Castle said as he now looked into interrogation. "Reverse interrogation."

"Castle that's borderline entrapment." Beckett tossed herself into the interrogation.

"What is it?" Ryan asked now interested.

"It's basically you get the suspect or whoever is you want information from by having them telling you what they know." Castle said now looking into the room. He shifted on his feet. "You basically lie stating that you know everything already, but in fact you don't."

"Sounds like a normal interrogation." Esposito stated.

"Yet in a normal interrogation, you lay some of the facts you have at hand." Beckett continued Castle's thought. She looked at her friends and Captain Gate. "Reverse interrogation is used to interrogate terrorist, and high valued prisoners."

"You mention its borderline entrapment?" Captain Gates asked.

"You are inviting the person to incrimdate themselves without actually presenting the facts." Beckett replied to the question now crossing her arms. "You throw in some truths so you don't get the entrapment."

"How do you know about this Mr. Castle?" Captain Gates looked past Beckett and onto Castle.

"Some of my fellow writers researched it. I researched it for an idea for a Derek Storm book." Castle replied with a smile.

"They taught it to us when I was down in DC for the main reasons some countries use it as well." Beckett remarked. She saw all their stares aimed at her. "I never used it."

"Captain it's your choice?" Ryan said as they look at Captain Gates.

Captain Gates stared through the window for what seemed like an eternity. She shook her head. "No, we'll break him conventionally. Send him down to holding."

The group nodded as Captain Gates left the observation room. With nothing else to go on for the day, the group headed home for the evening. Castle texted Alexis stating that they were on the way home. Captain Gates got in her car and pulled out into traffic, but instead of going home she head to a deserted industrial area along the East River. She parked her car and walked over to another car and got in the front seat.

"Detective Johnston." Captain Gates said to the women sitting in the driver seat of the other car.

"Captain. What do I owe the pleasure of meeting you here?" Detective Anna Johnston, a former subornatinate of Captain Gates, asked. Captain Gates called her while her team was packing up for the evening.

"Why didn't IA launch an investigation of Henderson?" Captain Gates asked.

"He never gave any suspicion too." Detective Johnston stated by turning in the front seat of her car. She looked her former commanding officer in the face. "We are all under suspicion now because of Henderson. They are bringing in outside firms to check us on financials and we're being investigated by the State Attorney General."

"Anna, I need to know where he would go?" Captain Gates asked as she shifted in her seat and looked at the detective. "It's the only way we can clear you."

"We don't know. Ex-wives, girlfriends haven't seen him." Detective Johnston stated looking out across the vast empty parking lot. She noticed a car coming towards them. "Black SUV coming. Probably State Attorney General Investigators coming to serve me with a subpoena. I let dispatch know where I was."

But before Captain Gates could answer, the doors opened and four men piled out with AK-47's and poured fire into the car. Captain Gates and Detective Johnston never even had a chance to pull their weapons out. Satisfied the job they did, the men piled back into the SUV and sped out of the area.

In the loft, Kate, Rick, Martha and Alexis were sitting contently full from the chicken cordon bleu casserole that Alexis had prepared.

"Alexis my dear that was splendisouly marvelous." Martha said raising her wine glass in a toast.

"It was very good Alexis, thank you." Kate said with a smile on her face towards her stepdaughter.

"I may have you prepare more dinners in the future." Rick said with a smile on his face. Kate, Alexis and Martha shot him a look with some laughter. "You did really good sweetheart."

"Thanks dad. I wanted to show my appreciation for everything and all your support." Alexis replied with a smile on her face. She got up and started to clear the table. "I will get started on dishes."

"I will help you my dear." Martha replied with a smile on her face and tapping her son's shoulders as she passed by him.

"I don't think you have to worry about her babe." Kate said with a glowing smile on her face. She leaned over and was about to give her husband a kiss when her phone went off. "911 OD 12th, what the hell?"

"What's going on?" Rick asked getting up and coming over to look at Kate's phone. "What is that?"

"It's a code from dispatch letting us know an officer is down from our precinct." Kate answered Rick's question. She got up and started towards the door, with Rick close behind her. "Babe you don't have to come."

"Sure I do. For better or worse remember." Rick said with a smile on his face which made Kate feel reassured.

"Be safe you two." Alexis called out from the kitchen, with Rick, and Kate waving good bye to them.

As they reached the ground floor, Eduardo opened the door for them to let them outside. The outside protection detail had been released earlier that evening once Kate and Rick arrived at home. This happen because the building owner's threaten to sue the city because they felt it violated their tenants' rights. Now they would wish they hadn't threaten to sue the city, because as soon as Kate and Rick hit the street a Black SUV came gunning down the street with an AK-47 out the rear passenger side window. Rick saw the outline of the gun and grabbed Kate. They went down to the ground as the rifle fired towards them. Kate immediately rose to her feet, with her weapon drawn, as soon as she could and got a look as the SUV sped off. She didn't see a plate. She felt something warm and sticky on her hand and saw in the fading light blood, and Rick on the ground.

"Babe, Rick." Kate called out as she rolled him over and saw a growing red spot on the shirt of Castle. The wound was on the right side of his chest and made a sucking sound. Kate fought back tears as she pulled out her phone. "This is Detective Kate Beckett 10-13 officer needs assistance. I have one male in need of emergency medical assistance. I need a bus ASAP. Please it's my husband."

Kate gave the address as she cupped her husband's face as people began to pour out onto the sidewalks and came near her. The sounds of sirens started to grow closer. "Hang on Castle, I love you, please hang on….."

 ** _To be continued in: A Castle will Rise._**


	10. Reminder

Just a reminder the story will continue in _**A Castle will Rise.**_ Should have up the first part sometime today.


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